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A Fairly Boring Orlando Fishing Report

April 23, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

A Fairly Boring Orlando Fishing Report

One charter this week, combined with high, dirty water, did not make me want to go to the lagoon. Howling east winds all week prevented me from visiting the ocean. Most of my fishing was in retention ponds. So it’s a fairly boring Orlando Fishing report.

Sunday morning found me at a new (for me) retention pond. I tried the black matuka streamer first and got a dink bass, then nothing. I switched to a popping bug and got three more dink bass. All this in about an hour.

I checked out a three other ponds. One was almost inaccessible, the other apparently fishless. The third produced five fish in about 45 minutes, all on a Z-Man worm. They were all decent fish, with one striving to be something more…

orlando fishing report

It’s something less than five pounds, but it’s the best bass of the week for me.

Monday I was at the auto mechanic’s all day. Got quite a few flies tied.

Tuesday found me scouting the St. Johns and the Econ. Nothing was happenning in the St. Johns, and in four hours on the Econ I got two redbellies. Talk about slow fishing! Word on the street was that the bass were schooling at daybreak.

Wednesday found Dick Dolloff and Chris Jones in the Mitzi with me, at daybreak, on the St. Johns. The bass were in fact schooling, chasing minnows. We did not have their number, getting only two or three bites and boating exactly one small bass.

At 830 we pulled the boat and drove to the Mosquito Lagoon. If you check the gauge you’ll see the water has been rising steadily for about a week. It’s still dirty. So places where I could see the bottom last week are now featureless because you can’t see the bottom any more.

Chris got a slot red on a sparkle crab, casting blindly. Dick managed to see one and worked it for almost 15 minutes before the fish finally took. He said it was the single most difficult fish to get a bite from in his life. Unfortunately I did not get a photo of either fish. And that was it for the day.

Thursday I got this idea that if I were going to fish retention ponds, some black Culprit worms should be in my repertoire. So I went to get some. The store didn’t have any. The closest I could get was red shad.

Friday and Saturday I fished eight or nine different ponds. The bass seemed to like the red shad worms quite a bit, although from some ponds I got nothing at all. The good ponds made up for the bad ones, though.

The search for ponds and the thrill of getting some nice fish out of unlikely-looking places is surprisingly enjoyable.

orlando fishing report

This bass-producing retention pond is in an industrial park.

And that is the fairly boring Orlando fishing report from the Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , ,

The Mudfish Orlando Fishing Report

April 16, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

The Mudfish Orlando Fishing Report

We fished all over central Florida this week, thus the Orlando Fishing Report.

One of the features of fly fishing in the midwest is the farm pond. One of the features of fly fishing here in Florida is the lowly retention pond, a mostly ignored resource. Lawn and street yuck drain into a hole that was dug in some neighborhood so the dirty water has a chance to clean up before moving into the local watershed. In spite of the yuck fish live in them. Fish are pretty adaptable creatures. Because not many folks fish them, the fish that live in these ponds tend to be unsophisticated and aggressive. I like my fish that way!

Sunday evening after dinner I went to a retention pond in Oviedo for maybe an hour’s casting. On a black matuka I got five strikes and unhooked and released four chunky bass, all of which were about a foot long.

Monday morning after visits to the bank and post office I went to a different retention pond and cast a new fly I needed to test. There was a strike on the second cast, and another shortly afterwards. I tried five flies in that pond and the new one was the only one that worked. Five chunky bass fell for it, decent if not exceptional for a couple hours of casting.

Monday evening after supper I tried still another pond. I did not see anything or get a bite. Click here to read more about fishing in retention ponds…

Tuesday morning found Scott Radloff and I searching the mighty Atlantic for denizens of the deep. We could not find any bait. But we did (after significant searching) find some breaking fish- Spanish mackerel, with an occasional bluefish mixed in. The fishies were thick enough that I broke out a six-weight and caught a bunch of fish, as well as lost several flies. White bucktail jigs and Sting Silvers were effective with the spin rod.

orlando fishing report

We ran into macks and blues intermittently all day, only seeing a few leaping spinner sharks for variety. The weather was outstanding, a gorgeous day.

With a fly trip coming up on Friday, I went scouting on the Mosquito Lagoon Wednesday. The water level is about the same, and its color is exactly the same. A dozen or so real shots came my way and I converted three of them, landing and releasing two slot redfish. One fell for an olive Bouncer minnow, the other two for a root beer sparkle crab. The weather was really nice and the day was extremely enjoyable.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Thursday found me sitting in my kayak on the St. Johns River. The morning started foggy, spooky, mist enveloping me and limiting visibility to maybe 100 yards. Bullfrogs croaked an impromptu chorus. I wish I could say the fish were on fire, but that was not at all the case. The first fish was a small chain pickerel that released such a flood of memories I had to write about it (read the piece HERE).

orlando fishing report

I worked it hard, getting a dozen bass. The largest maybe hit 12 inches. Or I might be being generous. A couple bluegills fell for my fakes, too.

orlando fishing report

But from a size perspective the fish of the day came on an almost terrifyingly violent strike on the popping bug. The fish jumped four or five times, putting up quite a respectable battle.

It was a mudfish, two or three pounds. They’re not very pretty. But I certainly enjoyed our encounter.

orlando fishing report

Friday found my fly charter, Bob Wikan and his friend Mike (just Mike!) and I out on Mosquito Lagoon. Oi vey, what a day! Cloudy, cool, and windy, with dirty water, the perfect combination for sight fishing with a fly rod.

Sometimes I wonder why I scout. Of course the fish were not where I found them Wednesday. A search mission ensued, largely unsuccessful. By lunchtime we had seen a total of three fish and had not gotten a shot at any. It was looking pretty bleak.

The afternoon continued that trend, until I looked someplace I seldom look. Holy cow, there’s a tailer! Wow, there’s another one! Since I could not control the boat in the gale, we abandoned it and went at the problem on foot. Bob got one of the most extended shots at a tailer I’ve ever seen, following and casting to the same fish for 10 or 15 minutes. In spite of the effort he did not convert. The fish simply disappeared to end the drama.

Mike got a nice slot fish by blind casting the root beer sparkle crab, the only bite and fish we would get.

As I loaded the boat on the trailer the rain hit with a vengeance. It was so nice of it to wait until then! Thank you gentlemen, it was a blast fishing with you!

And that is this week’s Mudfish Orlando fishing report from the Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Some Good News Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

April 9, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Some Good News Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The water in the Mosquito Lagoon has dropped. I’m not sure that it’s any clearer, but in many places you can see the bottom, and thus the fish. Since this is good news, we have the Good News Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Monday Dr. Michael Sweeney joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing, with both fly and spin. After launching the boat at River Breeze we found some tailing fish at the first place we looked. Tailing redfish! Not a lot of them, to be sure, but tailers nonetheless.

They may have been tailing but they were not suicidal. We did not get a bite.

We checked several other spots where we saw nothing at all. The last spot we checked, however, had redfish cruising the bank, blasting minnows now and again. The fish were not easy to see, but they were there. We hooked one on a DOA CAL shad, which eventually shook the hook. We ended up fishless.

Tuesday morning found me at JB’s Fish Camp where I picked up Al and Adam Winnicky, father and son who now both live in New Smyrna. We went to the tailing spot from the previous day. Curses! Two boats there already.

We went to the last spot from the previous day. We did not see a fish, did not get a bite. Time to punt.

I went down into the Mosquito Lagoon to check a place I had not visited in quite a long time. Wow, there’s a fish! Adam made a pinpoint cast with the DOA CAL shad and BANG! the fish struck.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Adam with his redfish.

We ended up spending the rest of the day there, seeing redfish cruising with some regularity. We did not make a killing, but got two more reds on mullet chunks. We had quite an entertaining ride running back to JB’s into a north wind somewhere between 15 and 20 knots.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Son and father, and a pretty redfish.

I was able to sight fish two consecutive days, certainly good news from the Mosquito Lagoon.

Thursday’s forecast caused me to bag fishing. I went out to the MINWR and shot photos instead. Got a few decent ones.

dabbling spoonbill

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

And that is this week’s Good News Mosquito Lagoon fishing report from the Spotted Tail.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Vernal Equinox Orlando Fishing Report

March 20, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Vernal Equinox Orlando Fishing Report

Sunday March 20 is/was the equinox, thus the equinox Orlando fishing report. Check out this cool video!

Remember, the equinox is a great reason to have pagan celebrations!

News of the Week
I wish I’d found this earlier, but still lots of great festivals- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/birding-festivals/

To those readers who go through Titusville, Bagel World has “rebranded”. I think this is a ten cent marketing term that means they are changing things. Why would you change Bagel World? It was awesome! They have changed their name (to what I don’t know) and moved down the street. Maybe the new place will be better. Somehow I doubt it.

Fishing!
What a busy week!

Sunday fly fishing engineer Bill Ruland joined me for some St. Johns River fishing. We looked unsuccessfully for schooling bass, then tried shad fishing. The shad are almost done. We fished for them almost all morning. Bill hooked and lost a couple, but it was s-l-o-w. After lunch we went up the Econ hoping for bass and sunfish. Although we got a few of each, that was slow too.

orlando fishing report

What the fish lacked in numbers they also lacked in size. At least this one was aggressive.

We ended up shad fishing again, and Bill got his first ever, finally, and then one more on his last cast.

orlando fishing report

Mr. Bill battles the mighty shad.

 

orlando fishing report

The mighty shad is vanquished.

 

orlando fishing report

The victor exhibits his trophy before release.

Monday fly fishing doctor Mike Sweeney joined me for some St. Johns River fishing. We looked unsuccessfully for schooling bass, then tried shad fishing. The shad are almost done. We fished for them almost all morning. Mike hooked and broke one off almost immediately, but it was s-l-o-w. After lunch we went up the Econ hoping for bass and sunfish. That was even slower than the previous day, with no sunnies at all and only two bass being fooled in over an hour.

orlando fishing report

Who is this guy with the bass?

We ended up shad fishing again. Mike hooked one and had it on for a spirited battle, but the fish jumped off before we could corral it. So ended our fishing.

Tuesday George Allen joined me for a trip out of Port Canaveral. I was finally able to get out there after weeks of hard east winds. We had visions of cobia and tripletail dancing in our heads. We headed south down the beach, finding a mass of menhaden before reaching the Cocoa Beach pier. Livewell stocked, we headed out to sea.

It was a virtual biological desert.

Finally I saw a large black spot in the water. A ray! I idled close enough to cast, and the ray started to sound. A cast over the spot with a menhaden yielded nothing.

A while later I saw a large brown spot in the water and went to investigate. It was close to an acre of mongo crevalle jacks. They have a hard time saying no to a live pogie and somewhat foolishly we cast two out. Bam! Bam! double hookup!

orlando fishing report

George battles the truly mighty crevalle.

A 30 pound crevalle is as manly a fish as you could ask for. They don’t know the word quit and it was a long tough fight for both of us. While the battle raged I spotted another ray, but there was nothing we could do about that. Both fish were eventually boated and released.

orlando fishing report

Said battle was long and tough, and quite exhausting.

We saw quite a few small pods of big jacks after that but used discretion. In other words, we wanted no further part of the big jack action. We saw little else.

orlando fishing report

The victor and the vanquished.

Late in the day we found an area with spinner sharks free-jumping. George hooked what I think was a lemon shark, about six feet long. I leadered the beast, which used the opportunity to cut the leader. And so ended our adventure.

Wednesday morning Shane Thomas and his friend (Sir?) Rob of York met me at Port Canaveral. I was cautiously optimistic I could find the jacks and sharks again, and knew there were bluefish around. I had seen the rays the previous day and thought we still had a shot at a cobia.

We couldn’t even find the bait. All the pogies that had been along the beach were gone.

Running back north up the beach we saw good numbers of pelicans diving on menhaden and one throw of the net there did the trick. Now, let’s go find those jacks!

They were all gone. We looked for hours and did not see a jack, a shark, a guppy. It truly was a biological desert.

Just so we would not get bored, though, the bow of the Mitzi decided to plow into a wave and do an imitation of a diving submarine. We were a couple miles off the beach, no one else was around, and the boat was literally half full of water, as close as it could get to sinking without actually sinking. We would have been in seriously deep doo-doo had the boat gone down. But it didn’t. We got the water out with the help of the bilge pump, a bucket, and a distinct lack of panic, then continued searching.

I think it was about 230 PM when Shane finally spotted a fish. It was a small hammerhead shark, four or five feet long. We tossed a pair of pogies out and waited.

That shark took his sweet time zeroing in on one of the baits. He’d swim up next to the boat, then swim away. We would think we lost him and then he’d come back. This happened several times. And then while we watched he finally took Rob’s bait.

We weren’t rigged with wire and I knew we might not leader the shark. As it turned out we didn’t. But Rob had it on for about ten minutes, fighting a noble battle. Finally, after eight hours of looking, a fish!

We found a school of pogies in Canaveral Bight. There were a load of bluefish with them. Rob broke out his fly rod and managed a couple blues on a Clouser Minnow. Shane got a few with the spin rod.

That was pretty much our fishing for the day. Just so we wouldn’t get bored, the Mitzi ran out of gas near the jetty. No problem, I said, I have more gas. After pouring it into the tank we could not get the motor going. I put the trolling motor in the water and started to the dock.

At five PM every boat in the ocean was coming back to port. The chop and the wakes were rocking and rolling us, and it was slow going. A kind soul came over and offered to tow us back, an offer we gratefully accepted. And so ended our day, one of my more unusual charters.

The boat started right up without a problem while sitting on the trailer in my yard Thursday morning.

It also started Friday morning, at the Haulover Canal. My childhood friend Kevin Linehan was with me for a boat ride on the Mosquito Lagoon and forsooth a fish. We did not see much, a couple tailing redfish. The water is so dirty it’s REAL hard to see them if you don’t get some surface indicator.

In spite of that I saw a redfish, in the dirty water, when it swam right up to the boat. I don’t think they can see us either, since I made about a six foot cast with a mullet chunk. The fish took it. I handed the rod to Kevin and he skillfully duked it out with the beast, a 27 inch beauty.

Orlando fishing report

They don’t grow these in Phoenix.

On Saturday Paul Dachoff and his friend Alex the Vet joined me for some Mosquito Lagoon fishing. Paul has lived in central Florida for 30 years and said he’d never seen the lagoon look so bad. We worked it hard with cut mullet and Deadly Combos for almost eight hours. One redfish and several seatrout fell for our offerings.

Orlando fishing report

The hand just appeared to help Alex hold his fish! AMAZING!

Paul spotted the reds tailing despite the rain. There were three or four of them, pretty darned relaxed, I thought. They gave us multiple shots and finally one ate.

Orlando fishing report

Our redfish of the day, about 25 inches long.

Paul and Alex were great on the boat and it was a good way to wrap up a busy week. Thanks to everyone who fished with me this week.

And that is the vernal equinox Orlando fishing report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, port canaveral fishing report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Daylight Savings Orlando Fishing Report

March 12, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Daylight Savings Orlando Fishing Report

Sunday March 13 we go back onto daylight savings time, thus the daylight savings Orlando fishing report. Don’t forget to put your clock ahead tonight!

calvin

News of the Week
This winter about to end next week was the warmest on record- http://www.iflscience.com/environment/its-been-warmest-winter-united-states-records-began

News Flash! Honeybees Are Adversely Affected by Pesticides! http://www.iflscience.com/environment/honey-bees-suffer-severe-learning-and-memory-problems-when-exposed-widely-used-pseticide

Fishing!
Sunday we ran two On-The-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminars on the Mosquito Lagoon, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I would like to thank everyone who attended. It was very windy and wavy and everyone was very accepting of the situation, very gracious. Thank you all!

Rose Mary Berg sent me the following note-

“I wanted to take a minute to Thank You again for the seminar yesterday for Justin.  He thought you were just ‘awesome’ and filled with so much knowledge. I cannot Thank You enough for sharing your knowledge and afternoon with us.  It was a blessing.”

We checked both side of the lagoon, from Max Hoeck Creek to Tiger Shoal. There was no clean water anywhere.

Monday I took the Bang-O-Craft scouting on the St. Johns River, launching at SR 50. Fishing downstream of the bridge for three hours I got two shad on crappie jigs. I did not see another fisherman.

Tuesday I took the Bang-O-Craft scouting on the St. Johns River, launching at CS Lee Park. I had received a good report about shad in the Econ but did not get a bite there. I did get quite a few in the St. Johns on crappie jigs and on shad flies. I ran into Ron Rebeck and Jon Cave, man, it’s been a long time since I saw them! They look good, appear to be doing well, and it was good to see them.

Wednesday morning Curtis Duffield met me at CS Lee Park. We first went to where the stripers were biting last week. They are not there any more, unfortunately.

orlando fishing report

Curtis hooked up to Mr. Shad.

We responded by going fly fishing for shad. We fished two spots and probably got close to 20 in about eight hours, steady if slow fishing. I hadn’t seen Curtis in a couple years, and it was a good, long conversation with enough fish to make it interesting. The river is still high, and the shad are probably close to being done for this season. And Curtis got his first shad on the fly rod, a cause to celebrate!

orlando fishing report

Mr. Shad, resisting.

 

orlando fishing report

Resistance is futile.

Thursday I had some errands to run in Oviedo. I brought a fly rod. There’s a retention pond near downtown Oviedo I have been wanting to fish for a while. The water was dirty (but cleaner than Mosquito Lagoon) and the wind was blowing 20 (as it was all week), but I caught two bass on a chartreuse rattle rouser. One was small, but the other was pretty chunky. Retention ponds are an underutilized resource for fly fishers.

Friday, after running some errands, I launched the kayak at Snow Hill Road for some Econlockhatchee fishing. The water level is dropping (2.8 on the gauge that morning) and the temperature is rising. I had fairly high expectations. Unfortunately they were not met.

The river looked beautiful. The gum trees, red maples, and willows are all leafing out. The air plants gave the still-bare oaks some red color, too. But in three hours I only got one bass about a foot long, my first Econ bass of 2016, and a few aggressive sunfish popped my bass bug. Just did not see many fish.

What I did see were two or three tons of alligators. There are plenty of big reptiles on that stream.

orlando fishing report

A big Econ reptile…

Saturday I renewed my CPR/1st aid card, something everyone with sense should do.

And that is this week’s Daylight Savings Orlando Fishing Report!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing Report

March 5, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing Report

This is the Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing report, covering the Mosquito Lagoon and the St. Johns River.

Upcoming Events-
Saturday, March 12th Beach ‘N Boards Fest Paddle Board Catch & Release Tournament Ramp Road Park, Cocoa Beach, Florida. Registration and other event information at
https://racehubhq.com/races/BeachNBoardsFestSUPFishingTourney

What is the impact of Big Sugar in your life? Check out this new video on the sugar industry! http://www.sierraclub.org/florida/BigSugarVideo

Mystery Photographer
The Mystery Photographer sent me these photos of Nautilus Fly Reels. As you can see they are gorgeous reels…

orlando fishing report

That is a fine looking fly reel.

orlando fishing report

 

Fishing Story of the Week
It’s been way too long since we had a fishing story of the week. I am the principal in this one, too.

Sunday Tammy and I went kayak fishing out of River Breeze. The water is no longer clean up there. I went to a hole I know and started casting blindly. A couple of small reds were caught and released. Then I saw what I mistakenly thought was a crawler red up near the bank. I waded into range and made a few casts. The fish did not respond to the fly at all. Stranger still, it didn’t change its position.

Starting to think it was distressed I waded still closer. It turns out to be a really nice trout, six or seven pounds. Curiosity driving me, I got closer still. Now in range to simply strike like a blue heron, I reached down and grabbed the fish.

It wiggled and broke my grip, but could not swim away. I just picked it up again, while fumbled for the section of nylon cord I keep for such occasions.

I went noodling for trout in the Mosquito Lagoon! The fish I grabbed was boatkill!

The poor fish had been hit by a boat and had four prop cuts, starting on its head and moving down its port side. Somehow, it wasn’t yet dead. I cut its gill arches and carried it around on the string for the rest of the day.

orlando fishing report

My noodled trout, boatkill.

At the boat ramp as I was cleaning the fish I could hear some of the folks in other boats saying, “Wow, look at the size of that guy’s trout!” I didn’t have the heart to tell them I caught it with my fingers, hardly more difficult than picking up a squashed ‘possum off the side of the road. Tammy and I had a good laugh about it afterwards.

News of the Week
A Record 6,250 Manatees Counted Off Florida Coast
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/record-6250-manatees-counted-florida

I am so sorry I missed this news item- http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/watch-porn-and-help-save-whales-month . We live in a crazy world.

Fishing!
As already noted, on Sunday Tammy and I went kayak fishing out of River Breeze. So far as I could tell, all the clean water that had been in this part of the lagoon is gone. Now it looks as nasty as the rest of the lagoon.

orlando fishing report

Tammy having fun in the mud.

I got a handful of reds blindcasting a streamer. Three were short, two were low-end slot fish. One short trout took the same fly. Tammy got a redfish on a jerk bait, a fish she spotted and cast to. No one else we saw had anything. The day was absolutely perfect, the kind of weather you dream about, but fishing was slow. The water finally was at a winter level, though, nice and low. Now if the algae would just disappear…

Having three fishing charters scheduled for this week, Tuesday I used the Mitzi and went scouting out of River Breeze. I could not find any clean water, and ran aground twice. The water was very dirty, as the algae-laden water from the south lagoon drained north towards Ponce Inlet as the water level dropped. I saw exactly two fish and did not get a bite, and wondered how my fishing season can possibly work when the place I fish is apparently ruined, at least for the foreseeable future…

Wednesday’s charter was a fly caster who lives in Virginia, Dr. Ross Thomas. We launched at C.S. Lee Park on the St. Johns River. A strong bite of hybrid stripers kicked off our morning. Minnow imitating streamers tossed on sinking lines worked very well, as we were into double digits numbers-wise, fish that ran two to three pounds.

orlando fishing report

Dr. Ross with a bass.

When that action slowed we went shad fishing. By now the wind had come up, about 15 knots from the north, making fishing more challenging. Ross got a couple shad on a green shad fly. We went up the Econ to try for bass and bluegills but the water is still too high and we did not raise a fish. Still, we had a good day. As Ross wrote, “Good fishing, excellent conversation and a splendid time. Left ’em with some sore mouths too! Thanks and we will fish again!” Thank you, Ross!

orlando fishing report

Dr. Ross with a shad. He seems happy!

Thursday’s charter was Mr. Tom Finger and Mr. Bob Trapp, both of whom live in central Florida. They had also booked me for lagoon fishing, but also agreed to try the St. Johns. The striper bite was not as hot as the previous day, but we still got ten or twelve on DOA CAL jigs on which were threaded 3″ DOA CAL shad.

orlando fishing report

Bob with a fine bass.

Again, when the striper action slowed we went shad fishing. Using 1/16th ounce crappie jigs with 1″ curly tails rigged in tandem they caught shad steadily for three hours or so. Tom got at least one double hookup on his line, and as a team they had several doubles, good, steady action. As Tom wrote, “Thanks for the pics and a GREAT day. We will be in touch.” Thank you, Tom and Bob!

orlando fishing report

Tom with one of his American shad.

Friday’s charter was set on fishing Mosquito Lagoon. My report and the weather forecast caused him to cancel the day. 🙁

Because no one signed up for the Show and Tell seminar, Thursday night I booked a charter for Saturday, Mr. Dave Phillips. We launched at Haulover Canal. The plan was to circumnavigate the lagoon, check it all out. We looked on both sides of the lagoon from Max Hoeck Creek to River Breeze. The water was low but very dirty. I managed to hit bottom numerous times because I could not see it. It was a beautiful if breezy day, but we didn’t see anything. We did manage to get a few trout on soft plastics, and one would have even held batter. Thank you, Dave!

And that is this week’s Noodled Trout Orlando Fishing report, covering the Mosquito Lagoon and the St. Johns River. Tight lines, everyone!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Blown Out Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 27, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Blown Out Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Gee, did the wind blow this week? Every day, most days around 20 mph. We have the Blown Out Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

Upcoming Events- Lots of ’em!
– 2/28-3/5 Wekiva Paint Out. Thirty nationally-renowned artists come here and paint our beautiful scenery for one week. They start painting on Monday, February 29th and continue through Saturday, March 5th.  The event culminates with a Gala at Wekiva Island, an event not to be missed! http://keepseminole.org/event/wekiva-paint-out/

– Ocala Outdoor Expo, 3/5 and 3/6. http://www.ocalaexpo.com/

– Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 5. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/
No one has signed up yet!

– Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 6. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/ -One space left in the morning session.

State Forest Update-
Two weeks ago I wrote, “I wrote letters to the manager of the state forest and the commissioner of agriculture. We’ll see what they say.” I got an answer. It’s been scanned and can be seen at this link…http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/state-forest-letter/

Fishing!
The plan for Monday was to visit the Banana River Lagoon. Tom Van Horn went Sunday. His report of nasty, dirty water and hard-to-find fish saved me the trip.

Tuesday John and Sue Burns joined me for a day’s fishing on Mosquito Lagoon. Yes, it was blowing. The sun kept peeking out from between the clouds. Fishing was not fabulous, and the nasty water moved into areas that had been clean last week. Damn algae.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Sue holds John’s trout. She’s a better model!

 

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Photographing the fishie.

John got a slot trout on a DOA Shrimp, and a nice four-pounder class fish on the RipTide Weedless Shrimp. We got several small fish on the Deadly Combo. Sue finally got a slot redfish on a DOA CAL Shad, three inch. And that was it for the day.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Sue wanted a red, and got this one.

Postponed Thursday’s trip to next week, the second time in two week’s that trip has been bounced.

Friday I got new tires for the trailer, then went to the St. Johns for some shad fishing. Bluebird sky, winds 10-15 from the north. Fly fishers, you’ll need a sinking line. The water is high, almost flooding the pastures. Two boats with fly fishers took six fish that I saw. I got three shad in four hours, using 1/16th ounce crappie jigs with one inch curly tails.

Saturday my bride brought me to the Florida Gourding Society’s Gourd Festival in Melbourne. It may sound worse than a trip to dentist, but actually it was quite fascinating, with lots of beautiful work. My shaky photos do not do it justice.

DSCN1427

Maybe I’m getting old, but it was a very worthwhile thing to do.

DSCN1428

Not a great week, but better than no cheese.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report, St. Johns River Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Mercury Rising Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 20, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Mercury Rising Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Observing the heavens is one of my passions. I’ve known for years that it’s possible to see the planet Mercury with the naked eye. I could never find it- until this week. Now I’ve seen it three times. And such fishing as got done by me this week happened in the Mosquito Lagoon. Combine the two and you get the Mercury Rising Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

For those of you who would like to observe this planet, get outside about 6-6:15 am. Look to the east and you will see a bright star above the horizon. It’s the planet Venus. Below Venus and a few degrees to the north is a much dimmer star- that’s Mercury. Check it out now while you’ve got Venus to point the way.

Upcoming Events- Lots of ’em!
– 2/28-3/5 Wekiva Paint Out. Thirty nationally-renowned artists come here and paint our beautiful scenery for one week. They start painting on Monday, February 29th and continue through Saturday, March 5th.  The event culminates with a Gala at Wekiva Island, an event not to be missed! http://keepseminole.org/event/wekiva-paint-out/
– Ocala Outdoor Expo, 3/5 and 3/6. http://www.ocalaexpo.com/
– Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 5. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/
– Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 6. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

State Forest Update-
Last week I wrote, “I wrote letters to the manager of the state forest and the commissioner of agriculture. We’ll see what they say.” Nothin’, yet.

Fishing!
Not fishing, but Sunday I brought my valentine to see the Big Bugs at Leu Gardens.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

BIG bugs.

Very cool exhibit in a very cool place. You’ve got a few more weeks before the bugs march off to a different venue.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

It’s a good real ants don’t get this big or we would never have made it as a species.

$10 admission per person. http://www.leugardens.org/category/events/

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Monday it blew like snot. I don’t even remember what I did.

Tuesday, a beautiful day, I spent the morning at the car dealership getting the wife’s chariot repaired. In the afternoon I did a little local exploring. Stop one was at Riverside Park in Oviedo. Several years ago son Maxx talked me into launching a canoe there (not a hard thing to do) and paddling down to SR 419. What an obstacle course. Anyway, that’s the only time I went to that park. Turns out it’s quite lovely and the Little Econ, although little more than a drainage ditch for east Orlando, actually looks quite nice coming through here. Further investigation required.

Stop two was a little pond off of Lockwood Road. Walked around it twice, the second time with a fishing rod with a plastic worm on the line. Did not get a bite. Did not see anything other than guppies.

Stop three was the Econ River Wilderness area, off Old Lockwood Road, a rather pretentious name for a 300 acre property that is certainly not a wilderness. It’s a nice enough place to go for a walk or go running though, a valuable patch of woods in an area of crowded housing developments.

Wednesday Tom Van Horn (the fishing guide, not the comedian) met me at Haulover Canal so we could do a little Mosquito Lagoon scouting. The water south of Georges Bar looks TERRIBLE, brown and turbid. Even spots that were clean a couple weeks ago look awful now. We found nothing there.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Tom Van Horn, not the comedian one.

Up by Oak Hill we found some clean water and a few fish, and managed one redfish and one seatrout each, on (not surprisingly if you read this report very often) 3″ DOA CAL Shad. Not a great day by any means, but better than no cheese.

Thursday’s charter postponed until next week because of the wind.

Friday Mr. Ryan Houlihan, a fly fisher from Virginia, met me at River Breeze. It was a tough day, with lots of clouds and considerable wind, hard for a fly fisher. Ryan missed one bite at the first spot, but most of the fish we saw we had already run over and they ignored the fly.

He missed another bite at the second spot, this one from a trout (we could see the action). None of the other fish we saw there cooperated.

We checked a couple other spots with few visible fish. At this point the clouds were pretty solid and we just couldn’t see. In the places we could see there was nothing to see. It ended up Mr. Houlihan did not get another bite and we went fishless. I don’t like that but hey, that’s fishing, especially with the fly rod.

And that is the Mercury Rising Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report, Orlando Fishing Report · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Keep America Beautiful Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

February 6, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Keep America Beautiful Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Rodney Smith and I attended the Keep America Beautiful national conference in Orlando on Tuesday, so we have a Keep America Beautiful Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Upcoming Events- Lots of ’em!
– Wekiva Paint Out, 2/28-3/5. Thirty nationally-renowned artists come here and paint our beautiful scenery for one week. They start painting on Monday, February 29th and continue through Saturday, March 5th.  The event culminates with a Gala at Wekiva Island, an event not to be missed! http://keepseminole.org/event/wekiva-paint-out/
– Ocala Outdoor Expo, 3/5 and 3/6. http://www.ocalaexpo.com/
– Mosquito Lagoon Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 5. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/
– Mosquito Lagoon On-the-Water Show and Tell Fishing Seminar, March 6. http://www.spottedtail.com/mosquito-lagoon-on-the-water-show-and-tell-fishing-seminar/

Parents Must Read This
Get a tissue because there will be tears of laughter. http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/family/25-hysterical-love-notes-from-kids-who-are-just-a-little-too-honest/ss-BBoUcIt

Fishing!
Sunday, a day I usually don’t like to fish, was a lovely day, calm and cloudy, and I did fish. My angler was Dr. Dave Harden of Orlando. We went spin fishing for trout and reds and did pretty well. My lures of choice were the DOA CAL shad and the DOA 3″ Shrimp. Dr. Dave used a 1/8th ounce jig with a 4″ shad tail. A half dozen reds and about 20 trout were boated, several slot fish of each. Sight fishing was difficult due to the clouds but we did sight cast to several fish and caught a few of them. Good day.

Monday Dr. Aubrey Thompson, a fly fisher from Jacksonville, came down for some Mosquito Lagoon fly fishing. It was mostly cloudy with almost no wind and we ran over fish all day, very frustrating. Aubrey got three fish altogether, a nice trout and a couple of rat reds, on a fly he calls the neutralizer http://www.danblanton.com/blog/red-meat-neutralizer-fly-tying-instructions-by-lee-haskin/. We saw quite a few fish but almost all of them were after we ran them over- nary a tailer did we see. Stupid, uncooperative fish! That’s fishin I guess.

Tuesday Rodney and I attended the Keep America Beautiful conference. I knew almost nothing about them but it’s an amazing, important organization. Read the blog I wrote about it here… http://www.spottedtail.com/blog/keep-america-beautiful/

Wednesday- honey-dos! ’nuff said.

Thursday Tammy and I tried to go bass fishing. I say tried to because the 20 mph winds interfered with our boat handling and casting. We gave up fishless after a couple of hours. Tammy said there are shad from the Mullet Lake all the way to SR 50.

Friday’s 20 mph winds and 60 degree high temperature discouraged me from fishing. I thought about shad fishing, but ended up going walking/running through the state forest, on the Florida Trail.

Welcome to the State Forest

Welcome to the State Forest.

 

This is what it looked like before.

This is what it looked like before.

 

This is what it looks like now.

This is what it looks like now.

 

Before.

Before.

 

Now. Note the Florida Trail blaze on one of the survivor trees.

Now. Note the Florida Trail blaze on one of the survivor trees.

 

Before.

Before.

 

Now.

Now. Am I being too sensitive here?

 

Or do you find this appalling too?

Or do you find this appalling too? Someone is not keeping America beautiful!!!

Someone has clearcut a sizeable section of the woods between Snow Hill Road and Brumley Road. You walk along these nice mud bridges through some lovely woods, right into an ugly wound, a clearcut. What is up with that?
I see some letters being generated, because I’m kind of upset. The Little Big Econ state forest is NOT keeping America beautiful.

And that is the Keep America Beautiful Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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Camp-Out Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

January 29, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

Camp-Out Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The sky can be a wonderful source of entertainment, both day and night. I don’t get to look at the night sky nearly enough. I went solo camping Monday night to do some stargazing, thus the Camp-Out Mosquito Lagoon fishing report.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

File photo, Orion by moonlight.

The kayak got launched at River Breeze about 11 AM Monday morning. It was fairly cold, but the sky was clear. While paddling I noticed a bunch of footprints on the bottom (the water is fairly clear). “Those are fish.” The boat was staked out while casts were made to those fish. They ate, and I got several reds, some in the slot, some short. A #2 olive green over white Bucktail Bouncer was the fly of choice. Man, it worked well that day!

mosquito lagoon fishing report

They were all over the olive over white Bouncer.

When the action slowed the paddling recommenced. There was a skiff at the next spot, well downwind. The painter was tied around my waist as I started wading and blindcasting the Bouncer. The fish were all over it, both trout and reds, about an equal mix of slot fish and shorties. It was pretty novel getting a bite every few casts, though, quite enjoyable. I considered working the spot again but another skiff came. Back in the kayak, paddling again.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Bouncers drying on the rack.

There were plenty of fish at the next spot, all trout, all short. Did not stay long. The Bouncer, about 20 fish old at this point, was starting to unravel.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

The trout liked the fly, too.

Checking another spot, I saw two muds flare up as the kayak passed. I staked it out and started wading, blindcasting. Nothing, nothing, was considering giving up when the line came tight, five pound trout, yes!

Worked the spot for a while longer and got two more nice trout. The mono holding the beads on the fly slipped out of the fly’s head and the beads were lost. Waaahhh! I LIKED that fly!

With the shadows getting long I pointed the kayak toward the campsite http://www.recreation.gov/wildernessAreaDetails.do?page=detail&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72791. It was close to a spot where several big trout and redfish were observed last week. I worked it hard, but they were all gone.

As it got dark the stars starting winking on. It’s such an awesome time of year for them. Orion. Gemini. Sirius. Aldebaran. The Pleides. I lay there just gazing at the cosmos, listening to the waves on the distant shore. Five satellites crossed my view, and two meteors did, too. It was better than the fishing.

Done sleeping at 5 AM, I got up to do a little more stargazing. The light from an almost-full moon blotted out many stars, but the planets! At one point Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and Venus were all visible, lined up across the heavens. My God, we live in a fantastic place!

Soon I was paddling under those planets, heading to yesterday’s hot spot. It was just getting light when I started casting. Clouds diffused the sun’s light into a glorious display of colors- purple, bluue, gray, orange, gold, pink. Cast cast cast cast cast cast cast. Nothing. What happened to the fish?

mosquito lagoon fishing report

A fox squirrel Bouncer was appreciated, too.

Then the line came tight and all was right with the world. Three nice trout were among the fish that spot produced. No other boats came, and the sun was well up when I saw what looked like tailing fish about 50 yards away. “Probably mullet.” I kept watching though, and finally had to go check it out. They were tailing redfish, at least 15 of them. I got one bite and missed it, and managed to chase them all away.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

One of the reds I didn’t miss.

Three other spots were tried without success. Stopping at an old favorite, I staked out the boat and started blind casting. Only one fish bit, but it was the best fish of the trip, a magnificent seatrout about 27 inches long. Another Bouncer was the fly, this one with a fox squirrel wing.

mosquito lagoon fishing report

Ha! This was a gorgeous fish.

It had been an incredible trip so far, but on the way back I found some tailing reds and got a couple more. It was the best inshore fishing I’d had since coming back from Alaska, and that includes the trip to Louisiana. Red Hot!

mosquito lagoon fishing report

There’s that funny-looking man again.

The rains on Wednesday and Thursday may not have been Biblical but they did make our roof start leaking. Looks like another home improvement project.

Friday was cold and windy. I checked out the St. Johns River from 10 until 1, from Lake Harney to Puzzle Lake. Touched a single fish at the mouth of the Econ. It felt good but it came off quick enough I didn’t know what it was. Talked to Ultra Fly at the boat ramp. He had gotten two shad near Puzzle Lake, “working his butt off” I think he said, adding that the “shad have been really slow.”

The redfish and trout have been hot, though. I have lots of open days- give me a call if you want to catch some fish!

And that is the Camp-Out Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2016. All rights are reserved.

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